Great idea. I want to convert my pressure pot. But... Damn! That price is ridiculous.
Eastwood was selling the complete Soda blaster for less than $400.
I paid $125 + shipping for an unused 125 lb pressure blaster on eBay.

Does the kit have more parts to it? If not, IMHO it looks like it's better to buy the components and DIY.

My $0.02¢

aminga

11-13-2007 05:46 AM

I looked into soda blasters last year. Most were considerably more than the kit. Very small ones were 7-900 bigger ones were 1-2000. So that looks like a bargain to me.

Sanctifier

11-13-2007 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aminga

I looked into soda blasters last year. Most were considerably more than the kit. Very small ones were 7-900 bigger ones were 1-2000. So that looks like a bargain to me.

That's why I think that the $130 adapter is too expensive. In that case it might be better to buy the portable for $380 instead. Better value for money IMHO.

My $0.02¢

VetteLab

11-14-2007 01:51 PM

I checked out that Eastwood portable blaster for $380. it is a small one, only holds 10lbs, looks to be about the size of a fire extinguisher. Good for maybe a carburator...and it will do only soda...
I am looking into getting one of those retrofit kits to put on my 100lb pressure blaster, that way I can switch back and forth from soda to abrasive when I need to.

Sanctifier

11-14-2007 05:00 PM

Didn't realise it was that small... Too small for stripping a car.... so adapter it must be. :rolleyes:

wildthing

11-15-2007 11:41 AM

what about the concerns that i have read in other threads that soda blasting leaves a film and is not recommended with some paints ?

scrot

11-15-2007 04:54 PM

This is a perfect example of Eastwood's overpricing. I see about $25 of hardware in that "kit". $25 retail price right out of Home Depot.
What a rip off. Do people actually buy this stuff from Eastwood?

VetteLab

11-19-2007 02:28 PM

scrot; I think there is more to the Eastwood kits than just a few parts. I tried blowing soda through my pressure blaster without any changes and it didn't work. we are going to buy an Eastwood kit and try it. Besides, I do like the idea of being able to switch back and forth from soda to sand.

wildthing; We use a commercial soda blaster in our area with truck mounted equipment (costs us $800 to $1200 a car) to strip cars before bodywork & painting. The issue is with the prep. The soda does leave a film which, incidently prevents flash rust while the car & parts are awaiting work. I have heard of some guys having problems but you find that they didn't bother to remove the film first. This film needs to be removed by blowing out crevices then thoroughly wiping the surface with a towel dampened in hot water to remove the film. Once the film is gone, no problem, paint sticks just fine.

kc37ply

11-19-2007 09:08 PM

wow, you wouldn't think that a machine made to blow sand and other media around would cost so much.

joe_padavano

12-24-2007 04:43 PM

I just received a new Eastwood catalog that showed this conversion kit for soda blasting. I too felt that $130 for $25 worth of parts was outrageous. It appears from the pictures that this conversion kit is simply a couple of valves and tees that turns your pressure blaster into a siphon blaster. The plastic hose is similar to the air inlet on my old Sears siphon blaster. The kit reroutes the high pressure air to the new tee on the bottom of the media tank. The tank is not pressurized, so the result is a high-priced siphon blaster. I think I'll just try soda blasting with my siphon blaster. Anyone have any other experience here?

dough88

12-24-2007 08:43 PM

I've never used soda before, but i have one of these blasters (without the soda kit from eastwood) and it works good for glass beads and stuff. This kit still pressurizes the blaster, it just adds a purge line so that you can "uncake" the soda that bridges at the bottom of the blaster. I'm not saying it won't work, but unless you have a really good dessicant system before the inlet of the entire blaster assembly, I doubt that it would be that effective.

55BigBlock

12-28-2007 02:44 PM

I just got a new Eastwood catalog today and they have 2 pressure blasters that has been retrofitted with their soda blaster retrofit kit. Has anyone used one of these kits? I would like to know how it works, and why it is different from other media? Chime in if you have a soda blaster and can explain the differences. Also, where would you look to find a local source on soda media?

Kruzin Karl

12-28-2007 04:01 PM

If it's true sodium bicarbonate, what we call baking soda, it's sold in wholesale swimming pool supply houses in the 50 lb. bag.

hduff

01-01-2008 07:59 PM

Hard Facts?

This could be an interesting and useful topic if anybody can post links to good info or provide some hard facts rather than post speculation. Here are what I think are the pertinent questions:

1. Why is special equipment necessary to blast with soda? How does soda blasting equipment differ from sand blasting equipment?

2. What are the conversion part(s) from Eastwood? Can this be duplicated from parts obtained at a well-stocked hardware store? Has anyone home built a soda blasting rig?

3. Is the soda obtained from the swimming pool supply store the same material that is used for blasting? If not, what is a reasonably priced source of soda for blasting?

None of this curiosity is intended to harm Eastwood or any other seller of equipment, but rather to help us understand whether or not the equipment offered is of any real value and worth our hard-earned dollars.